The present invention relates to an improved fuel as a substitute for fossil fuels. Fuels according to the present invention may be used in general combustion environs such as fuel heaters, in spark ignition engines such as internal combustion and diesel engines, and the like; as a fossil fuel blending component, and to a process for producing same.
In recent years, it has become apparent that global uses of fossil fuels are outstripping the naturally occurring supply of same. Moreover, Eastern countries which control a significant share of the world reserves of fossil fuels have from time to time imposed artificial controls on the production and/or selling price of fossil fuels, resulting in potential fuel problems for the rest of the world. While to date, no real crisis has surfaced, the ever present potential for same keeps the fossil fuel issue at the forefront of global problems and concerns.
While prior efforts have been made to arrive at solutions to the problems attendant to depletion and imposed controls of fossil fuels, no true solution has surfaced heretofore. Notably, during a most recent period of fuel shortage in the early 1970's, searches for alternative fuel solutions were rampant for automotive, home and other environs. Notably, a tremendous emphasis was placed on the use of wood burning stoves in order to reduce the demands for electricity. Such efforts have, in fact, met more than minor success to the point where millions of wood burning stoves are in use today in both domestic and industrial settings to supplant, if not reduce, the consumption of electrical power for heating purposes and thereby reducing fossil fuel consumption for generation of electrical power.
Relevant to the automotive industry, again significant technical effort has been made to improve the efficiency of the internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine is known to operate it a relatively low efficiency level, thus leaving appreciable room for improvement. New carbuerators have been developed as well as new processes for the handling of gasoline fuels used to operate the internal combustion engines such as by vaporization of the fuel prior to is introduction to the firing chambers.
Further efforts have also been made in a slightly different direction, that is, to search for fuel sources that are not dependent on thousands of years for replenishment, but which may be replenished in relatively short periods of time. One such effort has been the conversion of grain crops to ethanol with the subsequent blending of the enthanol with conventional gasoline fuels. Again, while the overall scope of the project has met with some success, the uses of blends of gasoline and ethanol has not been universally accepted. In addition to the use of ethanol as an additive to gasoline produced from fossil fuels, other materials have likewise been tried, but for various economic or technological reasons none has achieved success to date. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,434 to Gonzalez is directed to a fuel additive for oil, diesel oil and gasoline to improve fuel efficiency and reduce resulting air pollutants. Included as the Gonzalez additives are aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents with and without oxygenated functional groups, terpenes and aromatic nitrogen containing compounds.
A further effort to improve combustion efficiency of fossil fuel gasoline is set forth in Japanese Patent No. 58 96,689 which is directed to the use of plant oils containing menthadiene or limonene as fuel additives to improve the octane numbers of fuels. The compounds are stated to have a boiling range similar to that of gasoline with a commercial orange oil containing limonene stated to have an octane number of 137.7.
Still further, U.S. Pat. No. 2,402,863 to Zuidema et al. is directed to blended gasoline of improved stability and more particularly, leaded gasoline containing up to about 10% alicyclic olefins which preferably contain a cyclohexene ring. Zuidema et al. state in their patent that they have determined that the presence of cyclic olefins tend to stabilize leaded gasoline. Cyclic olefin is defined as an alicyclic hydrocarbon containing an olefin double bond in the ring (preferably no more than one). The alicyclic olefins are suggested to be available from terpenes or from synthesis such as partial dehydrogenation of naphthenes. A number of individual cyclic olefins are stated as being suitable. For example, terpenes such as di-limonene (citrene) and d+1 limonene (dipentene). Zuidema et al further state that oxidation inhibitors may also be included with aromatic amino inhibitors such as those based on paraphenylene diamine, para amino phenol and alpha naphthylamine being especially useful.
The present invention is yet another effort to provide an alternative to fossil fuels that may be generated from various plant sources, most notably citrus plants and which represents improvement over those attempts noted above. Neither the process for producing the fuel according to the present invention, nor the product per se, is taught or suggested by any known prior art, including that set forth above.